MongoDB
A NoSQL database
More on MongoDB
- MongoDB: Java—Accessing MongoDB via Java
- MongoDB: MLab—A specific cloud provider of MongoDB services
- MongoDB: MLab Database Creation—Setting up a new database
- MongoDB: MLab Databases, Users and Collections—Next steps after creating a database
- MongoDB: Python—Accessing MongoDB via Python
MongoDB is one of several implementations of what has come to be known as NoSQL databases.
NoSQL databases in general
These are database systems that:
- are NOT based on the relational database model of tables with rows and columns
- do NOT use SQL for queries (e.g.
SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = "fred";
Since NoSQL databases are defined in terms of what they are not, what they are tends to vary a bit, but they are typically some kind of key/value store: think of them as a dictionary in the cloud.
What you lose, as compared to SQL databases, is the power of the SQL query language. What you
gain is simplicity. That’s a gross oversimplification, but for purposes of this article it will do—if you want to know more, do a web search on SQL vs NOSQL.
MongoDB vs. MLab
On this site, we’ll describe a provider of MongoDB called MLab.
- MondoDB is a technology
- MLab is one commerical cloud provider of that technology
We focus on MLab mainly because it has a free tier that does not require a credit card. The goal of this website is to support students (broadly defined—whether formally enrolled at a school or not). So we want to focus on techniques for learning that have a few barriers in place as possible.
More on MongoDB
- MongoDB: Java—Accessing MongoDB via Java
- MongoDB: MLab—A specific cloud provider of MongoDB services
- MongoDB: MLab Database Creation—Setting up a new database
- MongoDB: MLab Databases, Users and Collections—Next steps after creating a database
- MongoDB: Python—Accessing MongoDB via Python